music mashup

Being a child of the eighties means I couldn't have escaped the impact of the Goth and New Romantic fashion styles, and despite sneering at the wildly tousled hair and black eyeliner, 15 years later this is what I was wearing en route to Wembley. The Cure were playing and I couldn't wait to hear the songs that permeated my childhood - like Love Cats and Friday I'm in Love. The anticipation incited exceptional excitement and resurrected a little bit of my juvenile spirit.

The Cure

So we arrived in Wembley and followed the hordes until we reached our destination. Now I would never say that I was a hard core Cure fan, but being relatively familiar with their greatest hits album - I thought I'd be ok. What I'd forgotten was that The Cure was a band when I was still in nappies and they had a bountiful supply of material that I wasn't even aware of.

After two hours of pretty much relentless tunes, I was ready to face the journey home. Despite leaving before the end, all the greats were played. The most up beat trio of songs were Friday I'm In Love, followed by In Between Days and then one of my favorite songs of all time - Just Like Heaven. Apparently the gig lasted for three hours and had an impressive five encores. I doubt any other British band can boast the same!

What really impressed me was the variety of artwork that provided the backdrop to this one off gig and also, the famous British reserve melting before my eyes. In fact everyone but the most drunk and senior got up and shook their money makers!

From Goth to Grime

And so from Goth to Grime. You'll have heard me praising a young MC called Ghetto in past columns and seeing as his album launch party was being held in one of my old Whitechapel haunts - The Rhythm Factory, I donned my hugest earrings and had a look. I was lucky enough to catch a classic old school Garage set by Sunship, which definitely got my night off to a good start! This was preceded by a Dubstep set by Jon Rust and Purple MC.

Dubstep and Funky house seem to be the youth's dance music du jour but it was the main man Ghetto who the crowd had come to see. I have to admit that Ghetto and his crew gave a good performance for most of the night. Before this gig I have never seen Ghetto as animated or as chirpy. He bounded on stage to perform The Mountain, followed by Top Three Selected - where he was joined by Nasty Crew Member - Griminal.

The stage soon overflowed with the great and the good of the Grime scene. Whilst Wiley, Roll Deep and Boy Better Know were better known, MCs such as Temps, Wretch 32, Frisco, Double S, Jammer and Bruza also provided the foundation of the Grime scene that night. As they overflowed the stage I was reminded of the best and worst aspects of the Grime scene.

Firstly there is a lot of UK talent, with the MCs not only writing their lyrics but often producing backing tracks and mix tapes. Look how this helped Sway and Skpeta. However there is a tendency for the MCs to eagerly grab the mic and shout. Poor PA equipment does not help this situation and while Grime DJ Logan Sama played the livest tunes, the quality of the MCs deteriorated as more of them took to the stage. This was a shame for the audience, especially when that audience included artists like Mr Westwood.

The One to Watch

Mucha Marcha at Proud Galleries, Camden. May 21, 2008.

- DJ Michelle

music mashup